Our home sold in June but the closing date was July 7, so our latest adventure shared two months. We spent the last two weeks of June and first week of July, selling the majority of our furniture and appliances, storing about half our kitchen and closets in our parent's attics, and packing up everything else. I mentioned in one of my June posts that our home buyers were getting new plumbing. That job took longer than expected (as is typical of all contract work) and finished the day after we originally planned to leave for New York (July 4th). Unfortunately our last two weeks in Austin were an emotional roller coaster and our actual departure was no better.

As those of you who follow Keith and I on social media know, we said goodbye to our sweet thirteen-year old dog Sadie on June 30. I planned to write an entire blog post on her, but it's still too raw, so I'll just explain that she had been having reoccuring tumors on one of her legs for the last few years. Every time we had the tumor removed, the next time it grew back faster. When we returned from our Europe trip, the tumor had returned as well and was even larger than when we had it removed just eight weeks before. With our vet, we agreed not to put her through more surgery and just try our best to insure that however much time she had left, would be spent outdoors and in the company of her sister, our other dog Aurora. That was exactly how her last month was spent, she ran around my in-laws yard, chased deer at my sister's house, enjoyed special treats and plenty of bones, received endless belly rubs, and fell asleep beside Aurora every night.

After an emotional weekend and tear-filled goodbye, the first week of July was a mad rush of sleepless nights and long days finishing all the house packing. We moved our u-haul trailer pick-up day three times and paid some very good friends with pizza and beer to help us load our New York bound boxes and furniture into the back of a 6' x 12' trailer the afternoon of July 4. Our month of bad luck continued (first the plumbers) when we realized our house AC had stopped working, three days before we officially signed it over to someone else. Thankfully, our realtor recommended a repair company and we paid extra to bring them out on the 4th of July. Within an hour, and about $400 later, the AC was fixed (the compressor or condenser .. I don't remember anymore). A few hours later, we said goodbye to the empty house and locked the front door for the last time around 11 pm before heading to my mom's house for the evening. I honestly have been so drained by all the house work and selling process, plus nauseas and tired for my entire first trimester of pregnancy, that I was relieved to say goodbye. It wasn't until Keith and I walked through the empty rooms, recalling all the memories we made there in the last three and half years, that I got a little misty-eyed. I'll blame it on pregnancy hormones, because we are both super stoked to be renters again for the next few years. Farewell house emergency fund and constantly worrying about roof, AC, appliance, etc repairs!

We decided to take a day to relax before our long drive, and the morning of July 6th, we woke up early and re-packed our clothing bags. We wanted to get on the road early but the day before, our car AC stopped blowing cold air. Yep, bad luck streak continues! We drove to Auto Zone, bought some coolant and headed east. The coolant didn't fix the issue and driving in Texas with the windows down, getting hit in the face by a 95 degree "breeze" may have been the least uncomfortable part of our very long drive. We found a Subaru dealer along our route in Houston, were told they could fix the problem by end of day, and two days later, the car was finally done. As you can imagine, driving to Brooklyn, New York from Houston, Texas over the course of two very long days with a trailer hooked to the back of our car was not particularly enjoyable. My tip for any pregnant women that attempt a similar feat is plenty of liquids, super comfy clothes, and ginger chewing gum.

We have been in our Park Slope sublease for three days now and I am 100% sure that this was the right next step for us! Every single day has been packed full of exploring, meeting new people, outdoor concerts in the park, walking until our calves ache, and a few New York bagels. I can't wait to start looking for our long-term apartment and will try to keep you all more regularly updated on our experiences here.